Steven P. Olson, M.D.

Dr. Olson received his MD degree from the University of Iowa and his training in pathology and nuclear medicine from the University of Iowa. He is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology as well as nuclear medicine. Dr. Olson’s special fields of expertise are Gastrointestinal Pathology, Dermatopathology, and Nuclear Medicine. Dr. Olson has been with Physicians Laboratory since 1986 and currently serves as its president.

 Karla K. Murphy, M.D.

Dr. Murphy received her MD degree from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and her Pathology residency in Sioux Falls at   Sioux Valley Hospital and R.C.Johnson Veterans Administration Hospital in Sioux Falls. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Her areas of expertise in the clinical laboratory include Microbiology, Hematology, and Coagulation.  She also has expertise in general surgical pathology, with emphasis on Breast and Gynecologic Pathology,  and Bone Marrows.

Diane Coppock Sneed, M.D.

Dr. Sneed received her MD degree from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and her training in pathology from Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Dr. Sneed’s special fields of expertise include transplant pathology and pathology of the breast.

Raed Sulaiman, M.D.

Dr. Sulaiman received his MD degree from the University of Tishreen in Syria. He did his pathology residency training at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center of New York, Rhode Island Hospital of Brown University and the University of Minnesota. He completed a surgical pathology fellowship at the University of Minnesota. He is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. His areas of interest include surgical pathology, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary pathology, bone marrow pathology, renal and transplant pathology, and performance and interpretation of fine needle aspiration cytology. Dr. Sulaiman joined the PL team in July 1997 and he is the medical director of Avera McKennan Laboratory.

Kim Lorenzen, M.D.

Dr. Lorenzen received his MD degree from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine, his general pathology training at the University of Nebraska, and his specialty training in forensic pathology at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Texas. He is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology as well as forensic pathology. Dr. Lorenzen is also a certified medical review officer.

Roxy C. McLaren, M.D.

Dr. McLaren received her MD degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine and she completed her pathology training at the University of Texas Health Science Center. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.

Bruce Prouse, MD

Physicians Laboratory welcomed Dr. Bruce R. Prouse on August 1, 2005. Dr. Prouse received his medical degree from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine in Vermillion, SD. He completed a pathology residency at the University of South Dakota School of Medical Pathology Residency in Sioux Falls, SD followed by a surgical pathology fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to being board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, Dr. Prouse is also board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine.

Stephanie Johnson, M.D.

Physicians Laboratory welcomed Dr. Stephanie Johnson on Jan. 1, 2007. Dr. Johnson received her medical degree from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, TN. She completed her Pathology Residency there followed by a Fellowship of Anatomic Pathology. Dr. Johnson is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Her areas of special interest are breast pathology and cytology.

Richard D. Strom, M.D.

Physicians Laboratory welcomed Dr. Richard Strom on Sept. 1, 2009.  He is a graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine and completed his combined anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine Department of Pathology in Sioux Falls.  Dr. Strom then completed a surgical pathology fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane, WA.  His areas of interest include all of general surgical pathology for the variety it offers. 

Desiree J. Langel, MD

Physicians Laboratory welcomed Dr. Langel on Nov. 2, 2009.  She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha and completed her combined Anatomic and clinical Pathology residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.  Following residency, she completed fellowship training in the subspecialties of Surgical Pathology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and Dermatopathology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  Her area of special interest and expertise is Dermatopathology.

Michelle J. Bleile, MD

Dr. Michelle Bleile is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado and completed her combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa.  Following residency she completed fellowship training in Iowa City in the subspecialties of Hematopathology and Surgical Pathology. 

Jacquelyn Choate, M.D.

Dr. Jacquelyn Choate is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland and completed her combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency at Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York.  Following residency, she completed fellowship training in Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. 

Shannon Gabriel-Griggs, MD

Dr, Griggs is a graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis, MN and completed her combined Anatomic and Clinical Pathology Residency at the university of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, IA.  Following residency she completed fellowship training in Iowa City in the subspecialties of Hematopathology and Surgical Pathology.

 
Heather R. Peck, MD

Dr. Peck is a graduate of the University of south Dakota School of Medicine in Vermillion, SD and completed her combined anatomic and clinical pathology residency at the university of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE.  Following residency she was with the 88th Medical Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Alfred E. Hartmann, MD (retired)

Dr. Hartmann graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in 1968 and completed his pathology residency at Nebraska Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. In December, 1974 he joined the pathology staff at Physicians Laboratory, Ltd. Dr. Hartmann retired from full-time practice at the end of 2005 and currently serves as a consultant in dermatopathology. He has been nominated for a world office as a Director at Large for the World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Officers and directors will be elected at the 24th World Congress of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Aug. 20-24 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Henry Travers, MD (retired)

     A native of South Carolina, Dr. Henry (Pete) Travers is clinical professor of pathology at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine and chairman of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

     Dr. Travers received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and then his MD degree from the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1971.  He served a rotating internship followed by residency in pathology at the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia.  Thereafter he was the chief of the Clinical Pathology Branch of the Naval Regional Medical Center for 3 years.

     Dr. Travers taught at the Eastern Virginia Medical School and the University of Kansas where he was professor and chairman of the Department of Pathology at the Wichita Campus.  While in Kansas, he was president of the Kansas Society of Pathologists.  His research interests have included placental disorders and human papillomavirus epidemiology in cervical cancer.

     Dr. Travers served in the Middle East as Laboratory Director for Fleet Hospital Six during the Desert Storm conflict.  He has been a governor of the College of American Pathologists and served on numerous committees for the College.  He chaired committees on Medical Practice and Education for the South Dakota State Medical Association.  He currently serves on the Board of COLA, a laboratory accrediting organization.  He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a fellow of the College of American Pathologists, President of the South Dakota Society of Pathologists, a member of the American Medical Association, and immediate past president of the World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Jenny Starks, PA-MHS

Jenny Gruhn is a native of Spencer, Iowa, and graduated from Spencer High School in 1995. She attended The University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, graduating in 1999 with a Bachelors of Science degree. In June 1999, she started classes at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut in the Pathologist Assistant graduate program. She graduated in May 2001 with a Masters of Health Science degree. She is a member of the American Association of Pathologist Assistants (AAPA).

Kirsten Whalen, PA-MHS

Kirsten Whalen is a native of Chatfield, MN and graduated from Chosen Valley High School in 2000. She attended Hamline University, graduating in 2004 with a Bachelors degree in Biology. In August 2005 she began classes at Duke University in the Pathologist Assistant graduate program. She graduated in July 2007 with a Masters of Health Science degree. She is a CAP certified Pathology Assistant and a member of the American Association of Pathologist Assistants (AAPA).